Exclusive excerpt: 'That Thing You Do' by Maria Geraci

Maria Geraci joins us to share a scene from her new That Thing You Do (out today!), book one in the Whispering Bay Romance series. Books two and three, Then He Kissed Me and That Man of Mine, will follow in May and June.

Here's the blurb about That Thing You Do (courtesy of TKA Distribution):

Allie Grant doesn't believe in second chances. She does, however, believe in the power of a permanent paycheck. So when a tipster reports that the soon-to-be demolished senior center in her hometown is haunted, Allie hightails it to Whispering Bay to get the scoop that could secure her dream job at Florida! magazine. What she finds, though, is far scarier than any ghost. Cue her ex-boyfriend, sexy construction foreman Tom Donalan.

When Tom catches Allie poking around his construction site, he quickly realizes his former high school flame is just as feisty as ever. And, heaven help him, her irresistible, mile-high legs still take his breath away. But Tom isn't about to delay the building's demolition because of a silly ghost story.

With neither of the stubborn exes backing down from their opposing positions, sparks fly. And, underneath the surface, the fire of their old attraction burns as hot as ever. When strange things start happening with increasing frequency around town, even a tough skeptic like Tom is tested. The question is, can Allie and Tom stop fighting long enough to get to the bottom of Whispering Bay's ghost problem—and the more important matter of mending their broken hearts?

Maria sets the scene for us …

Maria: Imagine running into the guy who broke your heart 12 years ago. And then imagine that you've just found out that your driver's license has been suspended. Wait. It gets worse. You're in a small town with no taxi cab service and it's in the middle of the night and you need to get to your brother's house (and your brother is out of town). What do you do? Walk two miles along an isolated strip of road or get a ride from the guy who tap danced on your heart?

Allie Grant is no dummy. So she begrudgingly accepts a ride from Tom Donalan and thus begins an unlikely partnership, because Tom is the one person who can give Allie what she currently wants — to spend the night in an old abandoned building so she can write a story that will guarantee her dream job. Allie thought she was over Tom a long time ago, but seeing him after all these years can make a girl feel downright squirrely.

EXCERPT

Twelve years ago, for one glorious summer, Tom Donalan had been Allie's first boyfriend. Her first love. Her first…everything. Although technically, he was never her first lover because they never actually "did it." It was not, however, for her lack of trying.

She'd wanted in Tom Donalan's pants. Badly.

Not that she'd been one of those girls. Just the opposite. At eighteen, Allie had been a complete dork. She'd been on the volleyball team and the swim team and a pretty decent student, but she'd never been one of the popular girls. She'd never even kissed a guy before Tom, unless you counted playing spin the bottle at Julie Howard's end-of-the-year eighth-grade party.

Tom, on the other hand, had been the kind of guy every girl dreamed of when she imagined her first big love. Handsome, smart, funny, kind. By senior year, he'd been practically a Whispering Bay High legend. There wasn't anything he couldn't do better than anyone else. Star quarterback, starting pitcher for the baseball team, senior class president, Merit Scholar. All the guys wanted to be him. And all the girls wanted to be with him.

When he'd singled Allie out that first week of AP chemistry as his lab partner, she'd been flattered. And nervous and flustered. But they had quickly become genuine friends. Tom was the only other person Allie knew who loved Star Wars as much as she did. Even Buela adored him, and Buela wasn't the type of woman who'd been easily fooled.

Then, one day out of the blue, something spectacular happened. Tom's steady girlfriend, Lauren Handy, broke up with him.

Lauren Handy had been the female version of Tom. With long blonde hair, terrific boobs and a tight butt, she had most of the male population of Whispering Bay High salivating after her. And the crappy thing was, she was nice. So you couldn't even hate her. They were the dream couple (gag). They were supposed to be Prom King and Queen. But the day after the senior awards banquet, a mere week before prom, Lauren dumped Tom cold.

Allie had spun by his house the instant she'd heard the news, ready to console him with her best friend shtick, which in those days consisted of a swiped six pack of beer from Zeke's refrigerator and a shoulder to lean on.

But instead of being upset, Tom was relieved (or so he had said). They then proceeded to watch the full Star Wars trilogy on his parents' brand new DVD player and down the beers (and no, Tom's parents weren't home). Sometime after the second beer Tom asked Allie to be his prom date.

Her! Allison Isabel Grant, the too tall girl with no boobs, was going to prom with Tom Donalan, the guy every girl in their senior class dreamed of. It was almost too good to be true. Which should have been her First Big Clue.

So Tom and Allie went to prom, a night that ended in her first real kiss. Which then led to an entire summer where they were joined at the hips, or the lips, or whatever other body part they had pressed against one another. When they weren't working at their summer jobs trying to save money for college, they were at the beach, or at his parents' house watching movies, or finding places to go make out.

Their favorite make-out spot had been the back seat of Tom's 1987 Crown Victoria, which they'd park along the end of the bay bridge. But just about any place they could be alone would do. It was during one of those make out sessions that The Great Humiliation Part One happened.

Find out more about Maria and her books at mariageraci.com.